Building upon successes, the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) represents an expansion and an evolution of the Meharry Medical College's GCRC and PCIR model predecessors in providing an environment that promotes participation in and facilitates clinical and translational research by serving as the anchor of the clinical and translational research program at Meharry. To this end, the CTRC not only encompasses the physical space, personnel, equipment, and facilities within Meharry, but also reaches beyond the institution to support community research. It seeks to provide cost-effective resources where the scientific effort to understand health and disease converges with direct participant contact. The CTRC has been built on the mission to promote the advancement of clinical research and improve the health and welfare of disadvantaged and minority populations through participation in clinical studies and to promote an environment that encourages, stimulates, and attracts clinical research by providing leadership and support for conducting clinical and translational research. The CTRC will: ? promote participation of underrepresented minorities in clinical research protocols; ? offer resources with plans for prioritization, readily available, well managed, and tracked; ? ensure that all studies utilizing these resources will meet the highest standards for quality of science, statistical rigor, ethical evaluation, robust design, participant safety, and strict implementation, analysis and reporting; ? implement and maintain Good Clinical Practices; ? address under-utilization and poor performance; ? anticipate and respond to the changing needs of the clinical and translational research communities; ? evaluate studies to justify an investigator's continued access to resources; ? recover costs from funded investigators, where appropriate. CTRC Specific Aims for the next funding cycle are to: Specific Aim 1: Enhance institutional and translational research infrastructure, capacity, and accountability Specific Aim 2: Provide an outpatient clinical and translational research environment that fosters the participation of underrepresented minorities Specific Aim 3: Foster intra-institutional and inter-institutional collaborations to increase the capacity to improve minority health and address minority health disparities.